Another malfunction at Twitter

This article was last updated on March 7, 2023

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Another malfunction at Twitter

Twitter, one of the most popular social media platforms, has been experiencing recurring malfunctions recently, and the latest occurrence happened yesterday. The social network was hit by an error for the second time in a week, causing images not to load, links not to work, and TweetDeck not to function correctly. The instability of the platform has long been a concern for its users, and the recent malfunctions are a source of frustration for many.

According to the well-known tech newsletter Platformer, yesterday’s malfunction was a human error. Twitter is in the process of closing free access to its API, which allows other apps to access Twitter services. Parties have to pay for this service, and only one developer was involved in making the changes necessary to steer everything in the right direction. However, this developer made a configuration error that would have angered Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk. On Twitter, he referred to the state of Twitter as “brittle (sigh).” It is unclear whether the employee is still employed.

It took Twitter all morning to resolve the issue, which is a cause for concern. Sources have pointed out that Twitter has fired a significant number of employees since Elon Musk took over as CEO. Twitter had more than 7,000 employees before Musk took over, but that number has now fallen to less than 2,000. Unfortunately, much valuable knowledge has been lost due to the chaotic layoffs, making it challenging to transfer important information effectively.

Moreover, the latest round of layoffs has affected some founders of companies Twitter acquired in recent years. Some of these founders have been forced to leave, and there is uncertainty about their employment status. Martin de Cooper, co-founder of the Dutch newsletter platform Revue, was one of them. Another founder, Haraldur Thorleifsson, who joined Twitter after his company was acquired, tweeted that there was uncertainty about the status of his employment for days. He’s not sure whether Twitter will pay the salary he is still entitled to. In a comment, Musk sneered at Thorleifsson’s work and his disability. The Icelander sits in a wheelchair.

The fear is that Twitter might not have enough employees left to solve malfunctions, or that the required knowledge might be lacking. Social media outages have been around for as long as they have existed, but the frequency of Twitter’s recent malfunctions has raised concerns. Netblocks, an organization that tracks internet outages, recently reported that there have been four outages in the last month, up from nine in all of 2022.

In November, there was an exodus of more than a thousand employees, which raised concerns about whether there would be enough staff to handle malfunctions. Today’s outages have always been limited to a maximum of a few hours, but if it lasts longer, it could be disastrous for Twitter.

In conclusion, Twitter’s recent malfunctions have raised concerns about the platform’s stability. The recent human error that caused yesterday’s malfunction is a cause for concern, especially given the significant number of employees that have been laid off. The fear is that Twitter might not have enough employees left to solve malfunctions or that the required knowledge might be lacking. If the malfunctions persist, it could be disastrous for Twitter, and it might lose many of its users to other social media platforms that are more stable.